INTERVIEW: Forfeits

Hi guys, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?

Pretty good thanks! Busy trying to get our 2017 plan together. So far, so good.

Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Amy’s News & Liquor”?

It’s one of those songs where the title came before the lyrics. If you take the first letter of each word it spells ANAL, but we tried to hide it with a ‘&’. It’s an inside joke, but a lot of our songs aren’t about what you might think. We’d written this cool riff and big chorus, but needed something memorable in the middle 8. The lyrics just fell into place around it.

Did any event in particular inspired you to write this song?

It was inspired by a friend’s experience on a Tinder date. Now that you know the hidden word in the title, I’m sure you can imagine what went down. We’ll leave the rest to your imagination. They tend to be an inside joke, a lot of our songs aren’t about what you might think.

Any plans to release a video for the single?

Maybe in the future, but for now it’s a really solid track to bop your head to and that’s the most important thing. We’re working on a video for Drown at the moment and it’s looking awesome, we can’t wait to get it out there.

The single comes off your new album Drown – why naming the record after this track in particular?

It’s funny you ask that, because we actually decided to self-title the EP in the end. It’s our first release and we’ve been sitting on these songs for so long that calling it anything other than ‘Forfeits’ just seems wrong.

How was the recording and writing process?

These tracks were written a few years ago in Adam (Vocals/Guitar) and Nathan’s (Drums) old band. They recorded them at the time with keyboards instead of guitar, but when Tom (Bass) came on board, we decided to change to a more traditional rock trio and add guitars. All the songs were tracked by JB Pilon in London, apart from Sick, Sick, Sweetie, which we recorded by ourselves. After that we sent them off to Bob Cooper who mixed them at his studio in Leeds.

What was it like to work with Bob Cooper and how did that relationship develop?

Adam has worked with Bob on a number of projects over the years, and has a good relationship with him. Unfortunately we weren’t able to track the record with him this time, but he mixed it all for us and is great at what he does. He’s also just a really cool guy and loves his work, it really comes out in his records.

How much did he influence the album?

Because the tracks were written and recorded without him, he didn’t have a huge impact on the songs themselves. But he’s definitely left his mark on the record and is super talented. Adam recorded Sick, Sick Sweetie in his living room and thanks to Bob it’s now probably the best produced track on the EP.

What aspect of dissolution did you get to explore on this particular material?

A few, actually. Forfeits was formed from the dissolution of another band. Also a lot of the material could be interpreted as being about the dissolution of a relationship, but that’s not really the case. We like to write songs that on the surface seem like they’re about something familiar, but really are about something much more personal or obscure.

Any plans to hit the road?

We’re currently putting together a few shows including dates in Bristol and London, but nothing at this point is confirmed…. Yet!

What else is happening next in Forfeits’ world?

Everything at the moment is gearing up for the EP. We’ve got the video for Drown coming out soon, then the EP launch on the 23rd of February. After that we’ll be playing some shows to promote the release, and work towards the next one! Because it took us so long to get around to releasing these tracks, we’ve already got our next release in mind. We’re only just getting started.